Goalkeeper Jan Van Beveren poses for a team mug shot during his days at PSV Eindhoven. Photo courtesy of PSV Eindhoven.

Goalkeeper Jan Van Beveren poses for a team mug shot during his days at PSV Eindhoven. Photo courtesy of PSV Eindhoven.

Photo: Beaumont

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Dutch soccer legend, Beaumont coach Van Beveren dies

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International soccer fans remember Jan van Beveren as one of the top goalkeepers in the world during his professional career.

Those that worked with him at Spindletop Soccer Club remember him as a positive influence on the local soccer community.

Van Beveren, who was a decorated player at the international level in the United States, died in his Beaumont home on Sunday after spending the last four-plus years of his life working with youth soccer players as Spindletop's Director of Training. He was 63.

"I know right now they're running hour-long specials in Holland, but that's not the Jan that we knew," Spindetop president Kelly Kroutter said. "We just knew the nice, compassionate, down-to-earth guy who loved soccer and he loved teaching kids.

"He didn't want the limelight or the fame after he retired. He wanted to come to a small city like Beaumont and teach kids that he felt that needed the help and where he felt he could make a difference in this world."

Van Beveren is regarded as one of the best Dutch goalkeepers of all time. He was a member of the Dutch National Team in the 1960s and 1970s, but was not selected to the World Cup team in 1974 or 1978.